Section 5 - Airport Land Use Plan - Melbourne Airport

Airport Land Use Plan :: 5Some land required for the airport’s future developmentlocated west of McNabs Road (north of Barbiston Road)is currently privately owned. Until it has been acquired forairport use, it is subject to planning controls under theHume Planning Scheme, including the Green WedgeZone. The Secretary of the Victorian Department ofTransport, Planning and Local Infrastructure is also areferral authority for applications made within this zone.In addition, Melbourne Airport must be notified of planningpermit applications for this area as the land is subject tothe Melbourne Airport Environs Overlay. The land is shownon the Melbourne Airport – Future Runway DevelopmentPlan (May 2007), which is incorporated in the HumePlanning Scheme. Melbourne Airport is continuing towork with Commonwealth, State and local governmentsto ensure appropriate planning mechanisms are in placefor this land, to provide for the airport’s future expansion.5.5.1 Activity Centre ZoneThe Activity Centre Zone was introduced into the VictoriaPlanning Provisions (VPPs) in 2009, and was notavailable for consideration when the 2008 Master Planwas prepared. It was designed to apply to Central ActivityDistricts (such as Melbourne city centre), Principal ActivityCentres (such as Broadmeadows), Major Activity Centres(such as Craigieburn Town Centre) and SpecialisedActivity Centres (such as Melbourne Airport). The StateGovernment introduced the zone to facilitate and simplifydevelopment in activity centres. The zone is intended toact as a ‘one-stop shop’, and can regulate matters suchas heritage and parking.The Activity Centre Zone requires a structure plan to bein place. As noted in the 2008 Master Plan, the MasterPlan is essentially a structure plan for the MelbourneAirport Specialised Activity Centre, having consideredthe social, economic and environmental criteria for activitycentres outlined in the Melbourne 2030 strategy.The generic purposes of the Activity Centre Zone aspresented in the VPPs are to:• encourage a mixture of uses and the intensivedevelopment of the activity centre:– as a focus for business, shopping, working,housing, leisure, transport and community facilities– to support sustainable urban outcomes thatmaximise the infrastructure and public transport use• deliver a diversity of housing at higher densities tomake optimum use of the facilities and services. (Thispurpose is not appropriate for Melbourne Airport as nohousing would be permissible within its boundaries)• create through good urban design an attractive,pleasant, walkable, safe and stimulating environment• facilitate land use and development in accordance withthe Development Framework for the activity centre.Relevant directions from the Department of Transport,Planning and Local Infrastructure’s Activity Centre Zonepractice note are as follows:• The Activity Centre Zone implements the strategicdirections of a structure plan and dispenses with theneed to apply multiple zones.• The Activity Centre Zone should be applied to all landwithin an activity centre, although public zones suchas Road Zones should be retained.• To assist in implementing a structure plan, the activitycentre is usually divided into precincts.• The inclusion of a statement of the activity centre landuse and development objectives is required. The zonecan contain centre-wide provisions and specificprecinct provisions.• The Activity Centre Zone outlines standard informationthat must be provided as part of an application.• Parking studies can be used to justify alternative ratesof parking for the activity centre, although Clause52.06 (Car Parking) of the Planning Scheme shouldcontinue to be used to address parking.DRAFTGiven the above, the Activity Centre Zone was selectedas the most applicable zone to apply to MelbourneAirport (excluding the Tullamarine Freeway and SunburyRoad) because:• it is a standard zone in the Victoria Planning Provisionsspecifically designed for activity centres, includingSpecialised Activity Centres• it is designed to simplify activity centre planning, tobe facilitative and flexible, and to provide a one-stopshop encompassing almost all planning approvalaspects and its use provides clear and consolidatedplanning controls• it provides for centre-wide and precinct provisionsto be included, which allows distinctions to be madebetween airside and landside precincts (consistentwith the precincts’ descriptions outlined in Section5.4), while also including objectives and controls thatapply to the entire airport site• this Master Plan contains the details needed to beconsidered as a Structure Plan/Framework Plan,and as such can form the basis of the zone.While the Activity Centre Zone has been adopted for theairport site, some changes to the zone’s standard provisionswere required, mainly to ensure consistency with theprovisions of the Airports Act. For example, the genericpurpose statement relating to housing has been removed.MELBOURNE Airport Master plan 2013 – PRELIMINARY DRAFT : : 67